Coronavirus Update

Allows In-Person Summer School Starting June 1
Governor Loosens More Restrictions
The governor signed (May 18) Executive Order GA-23 that eases (but does not eliminate) various coronavirus-related restrictions on schools, businesses, recreational activities and venues, etc.

The TEA quickly issued updated guidance for schools to follow in light of the governor’s latest executive order.
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Other Coronavirus News

UIL
The UIL at press time was reportedly on the verge — thanks to a part of the governor’s latest executive order — of announcing a partial “unfreezing” of the cancellation of all UIL activities due to the pandemic. The expected announcement would allow, starting June 8, summer strength and conditioning activities in advance of the hoped-for start of football practice in early August.
  • Update: Click here for the UIL's COVID-19 announcement (May 22) regarding athletics and marching band.

    Also: See another UIL item in “News Briefs”.


School Meal Assistance
  • $1 billion+ meal assistance — Federal agriculture officials approved a $1 billion+ school meal assistance program for parents impacted by pandemic school closures, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission announced. The TEA also provided an update.

    The Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program will provide parents that temporarily lost access to free and reduced price meals for their children at schools to receive one-time benefits amounting to $285 per child. The funds will be deposited on Lone Star benefit cards (for parents who have them and meet specified conditions) or separately on P-EBT cards that will be provided to parents.

  • School meal waivers — The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) recently posted a summary of the 16 individual pandemic-related meal and nutrition waivers the TDA has received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) thus far.

    Also: The USDA separately announced that it has extended, until Aug. 31, waivers that it has granted nationally allowing:

    -- Meals to be served to children outside of the normally required group setting to support social distancing.

    -- Parents to pick up meals and to take them home to their children, instead of the child having to be physically with the parent picking up the meal.

    -- Meals to be served via grab-n-go and in quantities to last more than one day, and without the restriction that meals have to be served at certain standardized times.

  • School meal equipment grants — Action for Healthy Kids is offering (press release) $1,000 to $2,000 grants for districts to buy meal preparation and delivery equipment through Hubert Education. Although all Texas districts serving emergency meals due to the closure of schools are eligible for grants, priority is being given to 19 Fort Worth area ISDs.

Health Screenings Cancellation
State health authorities announced (here) that the annual requirements for schools to screen students meeting designated criteria for vision, spinal and hearing issues (and to report the data to the state) is cancelled for this school year.

Schools that had completed the required screening of students before schools closed this school year may report the results to the state by July 31 “if they elect to do so.”

Legislative Update
House Public Education Committee Chair Dan Huberty, R-Kingwood (who was the primary author of the HB3 school finance/reform bill last session), stated in an op-ed piece (May 12) that although Texas will need to “tighten its belt” due to the pandemic, he expects legislators next session to work in a bipartisan fashion to meet the challenges posed by the pandemic “to prioritize spending on public education.”

Huberty noted that work has already begun, in a bipartisan fashion toward the next legislative session. “Our House committee will hold hearings and work with our counterparts, in the Senate, to make sure we continue to keep, and further, the gains made under HB3,” Huberty wrote.

5 Percent Budget Reductions Sought
In other legislative news, the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker sent a joint letter (May 20) to state agencies (including TEA) and public higher-ed institutions directing them to identify plans to reduce their budgets for the upcoming biennium by 5 percent.
  • Update: The Foundation School Program and school safety are among items that are exempted from the budget cutting order.

In the letter, the leaders also urge state agencies and institutions of higher education to pursue cost-saving strategies that will not affect the state’s response to COVID-19 such as forgoing capital expenditures that can be deferred, any avoidable travel expenditures, any administrative expenses that are not mission critical, and keeping unfilled any open positions that are not essential to Texas’ COVID-19 response.

Abbott: No State Authority to Raise Tax Rates
Meanwhile, Gov. Abbott publicly disagreed with an assessment by Texas Municipal League (as reported by the Texas Tribune) that his disaster declarations allow cities and counties to raise their tax rates beyond the state-imposed limits without voter approval.

Abbott sounded a similar theme (reported here) in responding to a letter sent to him by members of the Texas Democratic Congressional Delegation regarding tax burdens on Texans, which called on him to suspend any tax hikes, interest and penalties for the current tax year.

Abbott expressed his support for lessening the tax burden on Texans, but explained that local governments set tax rates, not the state.

Abbott disagreed with the congressmens’ support of raising taxes in times of prosperity.